Temporary Measures
by syrraki
Summary: Sasuke isn't coming back. Naruto isn't giving up.


**Temporary Measures**

The first time Naruto saw Sasuke after his defection, he had thought that there wouldn't be a second time. He truly believed that he would rescue Sasuke (utterly ignoring that part where Sasuke had no desire nor need to be rescued) and they would go home together with their relationship magically mended. He would keep his promise to Sakura and let go of the regret that had been weighing on him for so long. Just seeing Sasuke had made his heat beat in double time while adrenaline surged in his veins and his breaths came shallow and hasty.

Nowadays, he knows that Sasuke wont come back to Konoha unless he wants to. He knows this in the same way he knows that he, Naruto, wont ever stop trying to bring Sasuke back. The knowledge that this might be another failed attempt doesn't stop his body reacting in the same way.

This time is not particularly different from the others. Naruto has just finished assisting transporting a presumably highly sought after scroll (C-class, but short of joining ANBU, waiting for A-class missions wont pay the rent) when he spots a familiar dark-haired figure melting into the crowd.

Naruto has come to wonder whether Sasuke plans these meetings. Although the assignment of missions is generally random (occasionally Naruto will be requested, but just as often the client stipulates that the jinchuuriki is not to take part) Sasuke has a habit of appearing wherever Naruto is. Initially, they crossed paths once a year, sometimes less. Now, it's rare for two months to pass without them seeing each other. (Sometimes, when Naruto has to lie to his friends about where he's been, or when it's late at night and he's free to let out the little insecurities that he would never entertain in daylight hours, Naruto wonders if it's a good thing.) Sasuke never looks surprised to see him, but that says nothing at all.

The excuses he comes up with each time are less and less convincing. It's gotten so bad that when he thinks it is about the time Sasuke might decide to make an appearance, he tries to avoid missions with Sakura or Kakashi, since there's no way of knowing just how much they see in his hazy explanations of where he went and why he's beaten up. There aren't so many people that can do enough damage that the Kyuubi doesn't heal it almost instantly and the look that they give him when he makes his excuses (they know and he knows they know, but he's still going to lie and maybe this time they'll call him on it) stings more than his swiftly healing wounds.

Concern about lying to his teammates is one sided; Sasuke doesn't seem to care whether Naruto is teamed with Konohamaru, who will believe that he just got an urge for ramen and then got in a fight with a really big three headed dog, or with Shikamaru to whom Naruto just shrugs at, because it's a waste of breath to try fooling the genius. Sasuke just appears and is confident that regardless of company, Naruto will find a way of leaving, that Naruto will do whatever it takes to see Sasuke. (He's right, and it's arrogant, but Naruto never thinks about it enough to let it damage his pride.)

This time, not so different from all the other times, Naruto is in a dusty, bustling street, full of people and hot air laden with voices. Sometimes he's been in teahouses or bars, sometimes alone at night in the forest. (He goes to the Valley of the End at least once every few months, but he's never seen Sasuke there.) Today he has just stopped at a stall, hands jammed in his pockets as he casually looks at a chain hung with a polished jade stone and considers getting it for Sakura, when something- not a sixth sense, more like a _Sasuke_ radar -makes him look up, and there he is.

Whenever Naruto chances past someone with dark hair, or that shade of pale skin, he'll pause, take a second and then third glance, just to be sure, but whenever he sees Sasuke, he wonders how he could ever have compared his image to that of anyone else. Sasuke just has a presence to him, an aura, something that slinks out, coils around Naruto's gut and _pulls_ so that all thoughts of buying a present for Sakura are gone within seconds.

Doubt has no place in his mind as he follows Sasuke. Time rewinds, and it is the same as so many years ago, regardless of how many times it's been repeated since.

By now, chasing Sasuke is as familiar to him as breathing, and twice as precious.

Sasuke knows the second that Naruto has seen him, or he knows from beforehand when Naruto will see him, because he never dawdles for a second, but walks purposefully, without speeding or slowing, leading Naruto away.

Today their stage is an alley, in the darker quarters of the village, so that they can avoid an audience. (So that no one will hear them later. Sasuke may be many things, but he's yet to prove himself as an exhibitionist.) Given his druthers, Naruto would avoid alleys. As far as he's concerned, he's earned the right to walk in the sunshine, not sulk in the shadows. Sasuke is perhaps more comfortable with his right, and thus sees no need to flaunt it.

They used to talk before they started, or at least Naruto used to. He doesn't anymore. The only words left to say have become hollow in their repetition, even if the sentiment behind them hasn't lost any of its freshness, to bring them out again and again makes their meetings seem fake. Like they're playing parts in a well-known play that can be shrugged off as the curtain falls. (That would be a lot easier and a lot less painful, but what Naruto has with Sasuke is the most real thing in his life.)

There is no need anyway. Everything that Naruto could say has already been said. The heavy silence between them is just as expressive.

There are half a dozen signs that most ninjas give before they move. They telegraph their intentions so that an astute opponent can judge when they are about to jump, to kick, or to duck. Sasuke gives none of these.

They fight.

Sasuke fights Naruto and Konoha and Sakura's pleading green eyes and Kakashi's half moon smile and the ghosts that he thought he had quashed so deeply as to be indifferent to them. He fights the possibility that there's no reason to his life now, that maybe he was weak afterall. Maybe he shouldn't have burnt so many bridges and maybe he should quit before the last one turns to ashes along with the rest.

Naruto fights Sasuke and Kyuubi and Orochimaru and Madara and everyone and thing that ever came between himself and Sasuke. He fights the voices that tell him to give up and the pitying looks of his friends. Mostly though, he fights Sasuke.

Hurting Sasuke isn't Naruto's intention. He just wants him to come back. He sticks to fighting, summoning a few clones every now and then, but not so much as a rasengan. He doesn't want to _kill_ Sasuke. That there are unspoken rules between them is not a lie, the most dominant of them being to avoid murder, but the rules only apply to Naruto.

It is always in the moment where Naruto's world goes dark for a second after a particularly violent impact, or when the tip of his hair is taken out in a fireball jutsu, or a kunai almost hits a major organ, that Naruto wonders if he hasn't got it wrong. That maybe what he thinks is a complicated ritual between them of pretending so that they can hide what they really need, isn't so complicated afterall. That maybe this time, Sasuke actually is trying to kill him.

Even though this thought only lasts half a second, maybe less, something must show. Perhaps a wariness in his eyes, uncertainty in his step, hesitancy in his punch. He worries that things have gone too far again. That this has gone past his comfort zone and any second now he might have to dodge a chidori aimed at his chest. There is the fear of the unknown; is this the last time? Should he stop things now before they escalate? Did he do something wrong, or did he just push Sasuke too far this time?

Sasuke, after all this time, can read Naruto like a book. He sees every one of the emotions that passes through his mind, sees his thoughts spelt out in his actions: _If I punch, will he use a kunai? It's better to send in clones, but he gets angry. Should we stop?_Sasuke knows that if he carries on fighting like this, acting as though he truly means to take Naruto's life, Naruto will stop them. That is what has happened before. Naruto had stepped back and refused to fight any longer, acting purely defensively until Sasuke, frustrated, had thrown one last kunai and left.

But that was a long time ago. They have different roles now.

So as soon as Sasuke sees the first sign of reluctance in Naruto's movements, he stops fighting with kunai and jutsu and just kisses him instead.

It's not nice kissing. Naruto has experienced nice kissing back in Konoha, with Sakura once and Hinata a few times. This is Sasuke, so everything pleasurable about him has its balance in pain. When they were children, spending any time with him meant bearing his sullen attitude. When they were genin, sparring with him meant putting up with the taunts and teases that came with it. This isn't nice kissing. This is harsh lips pressing so hard that Naruto's head snaps back and hits the wall behind them. Sasuke bites at his bottom lip, sucking it roughly before pushing his tongue into Naruto's mouth, sparing no thought for gentleness. This is the price Naruto pays to have Sasuke so close to him, to know that Sasuke wants him.

That the cold shadow they are standing in is only a few steps away from the sun-filled streets and that anyone that passes by the alley opening could see in does not affect Sasuke in the least. As always he is single-minded, leaving Naruto to worry about their position, or perhaps trying to make him forget it. There are strong fingers tugging at Naruto's clothes, hastily searching out skin. They rove over his body, scratching and pressing hard enough to bruise while Sasuke pushes him back into the seeping cold of the wall behind them. Teeth nip at his jaw, a leg slips between his own, pushing them apart. The counterpoint in pleasure is so much more obvious when they're like this, so Naruto just lets it happen.

Usually.

Today is not usual.

Today, when Sasuke's fingers slip from under Naruto's top, greedily touching his stomach and begin moving down while his hips rock insistently, intent on getting a reaction, Naruto pushes him back. Sasuke stumbles, and Naruto nearly laughs. He's never pushed Sasuke away before. He has never done anything to stop him, and it seems Sasuke is so sure of his compliance that he wouldn't even suspect anything else. It's the first time in a while outside of fighting that Naruto has caught Sasuke off guard.

When Sasuke steps forward again, only to have Naruto step away, he scowls. He did not plan this.

"What?" Sasuke hisses, and hey, that's the first word he's said to Naruto in over four months and three meetings. ("More," "faster," and "harder" are not included in this count.) But it's the _tone_ that tickles Naruto, as though Sasuke is confused about why Naruto could possibly be refusing his advances. What makes the laughter freeze in his throat is that Sasuke's anger stems from _desire_. He wants Naruto. Really wants him. Or at least, he wants sex, and for some reason he's choosing Naruto instead of paying a whore. Regardless of his reasoning (which Naruto knows he will almost certainly never understand) the lust in Sasuke's dark eyes is enough to derail any thoughts of amusement. Naruto swallows dryly.

Sasuke takes the silence as consent. It's not. He moves forwards. Naruto steps backwards.

"_What?_" Sasuke snarls again. Another word. Naruto feels suddenly scientific. How far would he have to push for Sasuke to give up? At what point would Sasuke decide that he'd rather get himself off instead of waiting for Naruto to decide if he wants to participate?

His scientific career is short lived, because this is Sasuke, and the idea of him leaving is literally the stuff of Naruto's nightmares.

"Can we talk?" Naruto blurts out. Sasuke's eyes narrow and his posture is instantly defensive. Internally, Naruto sighs. The first sign that they might have an actual conversation triggers Sasuke's fight or flight instinct.

"You want to _talk_?" Sasuke snorts. "I'm not here for conversation."

"What exactly _are_ you here for, Sasuke?" Naruto wants to know. He has a pretty good idea. A pretty graphic one at that, but he'd like to hear it from Sasuke, just once, like to hear his voice saying the words.

Sasuke leaves. Naruto doesn't hear it. Not today.

* * *

"The mission write up says that you spent two hours in the market and that's why you were late to meet up with your teammates at the town gate. Your teammates also noted that you were suffering from various wounds, although they healed during the journey. Do you have anything you'd like to add?"

"No."

* * *

Naruto has far from given up searching for Sasuke.

Regardless of when they last met, whenever Naruto has time off he leaves Konoha with the intention of bringing Sasuke back. Sakura sometimes waves him off from the main gates. She makes him promise to take care of himself. There was a time when many of Naruto's precious people tried to dissuade him from these self-appointed missions, advising him to give up. He doesn't hold it against them, but he doesn't listen. Most of them realise that if he did, he wouldn't be the person they believed in.

Tracking him down isn't easy; it's far more likely that Sasuke lets himself be found. There are certain towns that Sasuke returns to again and again, sometimes Naruto hears hints or rumours and sometimes he just picks a location at random.

Occasionally Sasuke takes on vigilante missions and Naruto has become adept at predicting which ones he will pursue. It it through this that Naruto tracks Sasuke to the roof of a Wind Country clan leader a few hours before dawn. Normally he'd wait until Sasuke was safely away. Not tonight.

Sasuke swings up adroitly from the top window and lands in a crouch on the flat roof where Naruto has been sitting for almost an hour. The guards that Sasuke looks for to silence before they can raise the alarm have been out cold for some time now, and instead his eyes lock on the figure of Naruto, who is settled on the edge, legs dangling off the side of the building. He is in plain sight if anyone cared to look up.

As usual, Sasuke only glares, before turning and looking for the nearest escape route. There is perhaps half a second between Sasuke's turning away from Naruto to scan the rooftops, and his detecting the sudden warm presence at his back.

"You can't leave yet," Naruto whispers, hot against his ear. On these days, Naruto is always more confident, more in control. "There's only a twenty second window every fifteen minutes, and it wont arrive for another twelve." Sasuke's hand is on the hilt of his katana, but he doesn't draw. "If you leave before that, the guards will see you. You could get away," Naruto allows, "but then the mission would be compromised."

"I don't have time for this," Sasuke hisses, pulling away, stepping back from the edge. Naruto regards him, drinking in his appearance. Usually he would take this opportunity to just appreciate having Sasuke so close, but not tonight.

"I'd say you do," Naruto replies, his voice quiet enough not to draw attention, but loud enough for Sasuke to hear him clearly. He puts his hands behind his head casually, but in reality he is in as much danger as Sasuke is. More in fact, because if Sasuke is seen (realistically, neither of them are going to be caught) he is already a wanted criminal. If Naruto is seen, Konoha is implicated.

For a few seconds, it's nice to relish having the upper hand over Sasuke, because it's really not something that Naruto experiences often. Naruto's happiness relies too heavily on Sasuke.

"I want to talk to you," Naruto says plainly. Sasuke's lip curls.

"I'll chance the guards," he sneers, turning back and Naruto sees from his posture that he means it; he'd rather risk being arrested than have a conversation. Still he should know by now that turning his back on Naruto isn't wise.

Sasuke has enough time to turn back before Naruto tackles him. They nearly go over the side of the building, but not quite. There is about a foot between Sasuke's head and a three storey drop. Sasuke struggles but Naruto captures his hands and pins them, his legs on either side of Sasuke's waist. Sasuke feels cold beneath him, with tense muscles and furious eyes. There are many ways that Sasuke could get out of this position, most of which would give away their presence. Naruto likes to think that Sasuke does know other ways, but chooses not to use them. The thought comforts him, it's one of the hundreds of tiny signs he interprets in his favour and repeats over and over to himself when doubt creeps across his heart.

"Get _off_," Sasuke growls, more collected than anyone in this position should be.

"I just want to talk to you," Naruto repeats, tightening his grip on Sasuke's wrists and pressing them into the cold stone of the roof. The way Sasuke's arms are bent can't be comfortable and some skin is scraped across the rough surface, but he doesn't complain.

"There's nothing to talk about," Sasuke snarls, twisting to get free.

Naruto watches him carefully, frowning at what he sees. Few people claim to be able to read Sasuke, least of all Naruto, but from the look in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto understands that he isn't willing to talk. Not now, and maybe not ever. Naruto sighs, swallows.

Seeing something in Naruto's expression, Sasuke stops struggling and lies still, waiting to see what he'll do next. He's still strong enough to punch a hole through Naruto's chest if he so wishes, but he doesn't move. An apparently compliant Sasuke presents an alluring combination and Naruto can't stop himself from leaning a little closer, resting his weight on one hand. Sasuke's only reaction is to narrow his eyes further, turning them to glittering black shards. Whatever thoughts are running through his head impossible to read.

"Why do you have to make it so difficult?" Naruto breathes.

There are a dozen different replies Sasuke could give, but not a single one of them feature, because in the next moment Naruto leans down just a little bit further and presses their lips together.

As soon as their mouths meet, Naruto's eyes shut and he revels in the sensation, enjoying the feel of Sasuke's lips against his, slightly parted, his mouth soft and welcoming. The softness lasts just a second, before Sasuke's lips part fully and the kiss becomes hard edged and demanding. Again Sasuke tries to move his arms from their vulnerable position, snarling into Naruto's mouth and biting down on his lip when Naruto refuses to yield, keeping Sasuke's wrists pinned tightly. Naruto ignores him, all the protests he makes are redundant when Naruto can feel Sasuke's arousal pressing into him.

Sasuke's head is perilously close to the edge. With him pinned like this, Naruto could very easily throw him over, and the guards couldn't miss something like that. From the way Sasuke pants, hot and heavy, as Naruto trails open mouthed kisses down his neck, pausing to suck and tease the pale skin, Naruto thinks he doesn't care.

Sasuke's skin is smooth where Naruto runs his fingers over it. There are scars that no shinobi can avoid, even one as skilled as Sasuke, and Naruto traces them carefully, imagining what they must look like. He's explored Sasuke's body in fragments but their half clothed forays do not allow for extensive viewing. Naruto wonders what Sasuke looks like under all those clothes. Is his skin pale all over? The goosebumps he can feel- what do they look like?

Both of Sasuke's wrists are transferred to one hand (a grip that could easily be broken out of but Sasuke is preoccupied) so that Naruto can move another hand down to tug Sasuke's legs apart, allowing him to settle between them, bodies aligned. There is a second of brief relief that comes with gaining just that little bit of extra contact and Naruto groans, finding Sasuke's mouth again.

When Naruto pulls back, Sasuke stretches upwards, trying to keep the contact, only to freeze when Naruto's free hand settles between his thighs and _squeezes_. Sasuke's reaction is to arch into the touch, head thrown back, eyes squeezed shut, hips twisting in an attempt to gain more contact. Naruto leans back up and lowers himself so that his mouth is next to Sasuke's ear. He can't resist flicking his tongue out and licking the shell, loving the way that Sasuke's eyes snap open and his breath catches.

"Come back to Konoha," Naruto whispers, punctuating his request with another slow, deliberate squeeze.

"Fuck you," Sasuke chokes out, turning his head away, jaw tight. When Naruto doesn't say anything for a second, he turns back to see an angry gleam in Naruto's eyes. He doesn't get a chance to comment though, because a second later Naruto has shifted down and is pulling at Sasuke's clothes.

For a moment, it registers in Sasuke's mind that his hands are free but then Naruto opens his mouth and engulfs him in one go, and all thoughts are banished.

The pace Naruto sets is brutal; he's angry and this is the way he chooses to take it out on both of them. There are going to be bruises where his fingers are digging into hips, trying to stop Sasuke from bucking up as he desperately tries to get closer, all thought of restraint abandoned around the time Naruto started using his teeth. Sasuke bites down on his lip so hard it bleeds to stifle his moans, but little noises keep escaping him and he _knows_ Naruto can hear. His hands are in Naruto's hair, pulling and guiding and pleading for just a little more in a way his mouth will not. Naruto's movements are fast, powerful and a little sloppy, and Sasuke comes within minutes. (So fast that it would be embarrassing, but the feeling of Naruto's tongue on his cock goes a long way to distract him from such thoughts.)

Naruto cleans him up with his mouth, which is downright disgusting, but Sasuke is in no position to complain, before Naruto pulls his clothes back into place and stands up. Sasuke waits for the last waves to die down and feeling to return to his legs before pushing himself up shakily.

For someone who just sucked him off enthusiastically, Naruto's expression is sorrowful.

"Is this all we can be to each other?" he whispers.

Sasuke says nothing. The twelve minutes are up. He leaves.

* * *

"Welcome home, Naruto."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan."

* * *

"Sai, not everything you read in a book is true, and it's certainly not always applicable to every day situations!" Sakura reprimands sternly.

"Yeah! You made Hinata-chan cry!" Naruto adds in. The three of them are walking back from the barbecue restaurant, feeling contented with their full stomachs.

"But what I said was true, she does have fantastic br-"

"Don't say it again!" Sakura interrupts.

"Naruto-kun agrees with me," Sai puts in stubbornly. "I saw him looking." Sakura turns on Naruto, looking murderous, her fist already clenched.

"W-wait, Sakura-chan, that's not true!" Naruto insists, waving his hands in front of his face. "I mean, I wasn't looking, or if I was, it's not-"

Sakura's fist stops his attempt at defending himself, and he finds himself with a mouthful of dirt and the soreness which normally signifies the beginning of a black eye, but in Naruto's case signifies a hurt that will be gone in a few minutes.

With more arguing and a little more violence, the three split up, each going to their own homes. Naruto smiles as he walks. Team Seven gets on better these days, he doesn't even mind the fighting so much. (Naruto never acknowledges that this is the _new_ Team Seven. In his head they're still waiting for Sasuke, then the old Team Seven will reform. It will just be a little bigger than it used to.)

It's dark, the sky a soft blue, fringed with orange in the west and navy in the east, and the streets are quiet as Naruto makes his way through slowly, relaxed. His belly is full from barbecue, his muscles are loose from training, and he thinks that maybe Hinata will want to go to the festival with him at the weekend. He hums a nonsensical tune as he climbs the stairs to his apartment.

He opens the door and flicks the light on, takes two steps in and is about to pulls his teeshirt over his head when he stops.

"You wanted to talk," Sasuke says standing by the window, his back to Naruto. "So talk."

"Sasuke?" Naruto asks dumbly, fumbling to turn on the light but on succeeding in turning it off again, leaving them in the dim light that falls through the window. "You- How did you get here?" Naruto's startled questions are met with silence, as Sasuke regards him impassively. "Does anyone else know? Why are-"

"If you're going to ask stupid questions, I'm leaving," Sasuke says, actually turning towards the window.

"No! Wait," the words are out of Naruto's mouth before he can think. Sasuke is actually _here_. In his _apartment_ and no way can Naruto let him slip away this time. "Just- Wait."

"I don't have all night," Sasuke says darkly. Naruto wants to sit down, but Sasuke is standing, so he doesn't move except to take a few steps closer.

"Why are you here?" Naruto tries again. He thinks Sasuke wont answer, when he opens his mouth.

"You said you wanted to talk," Sasuke says blankly.

"So you came to my _apartment_?" Naruto asks incredulously. Sasuke shifts slightly, his eyes narrow.

"Is there a _problem_ with that?"

"Sasuke, you're a wanted criminal, you could have been _arrested_," Naruto exclaims, trying to keep his voice down. A thought striking him, he briskly walks to the window, brushing past Sasuke, and tugs the curtain closed.

"I wasn't," Sasuke answers. "I wont be." He leans back against the wall next to the window. "Is that all?"

"You came here to _chat_?" Naruto asks, incredulous.

"I don't want you interfering with my missions," Sasuke says bluntly.

"Oh that's rich," Naruto scowls. "It's fine for you to show up and demand- whatever, when _I'm_ on a mission, but I should leave you alone?"

"That's about right," Sasuke sneers. Naruto clenches his fist but doesn't swing.

"Tough," he growls. "It doesn't work like that." Sasuke's expression is blank, and Naruto feels the fight drain from him. "Look," he sighs, "what's going on with us?"

At this, Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Us? There isn't an 'us.' There's just you refusing to acknowledge that the bond between us was broken long ago."

"That's really getting old, you know," Naruto says darkly. "I didn't believe it when you first said it, and I sure as hell don't believe it now."

"It's the truth," Sasuke says simply, turning slightly so Naruto is presented with his profile, pale skin contrasted with dark shadows. (He's tasted that skin, he remembers, he's kissed that mouth. He's traced his fingers all over that body. He knows what Sasuke hates and what he loves. That he can't stand being touched where the curse seal used to be, but licking the bottom of his ribs makes him breathless . He knows exactly how to make Sasuke scream, and yet there's no one in the world that Naruto feels further from right now.)

"Sasuke, the last time we met I sucked you off on a roof," Naruto says seriously, running a hand through his hair. "How can you say that's nothing?"

Sasuke pauses for a second, apparently not having expected Naruto to be so blunt. "You're convenient."

That hurts a lot, but not nearly as much as it would hurt if Naruto believes it. Instead he scowls again, glaring at Sasuke. "That doesn't even make sense!" he snaps. "If you wanted convenient, you'd go find a whore or something. It can't be that easy to track me down."

"It's easier than you think," Sasuke says, but his words are empty, there's little meaning behind them.

It feels a little like a confession, it's probably all Naruto is going to get, and it makes him think that maybe Sasuke is as confused about this as he is. "...Why does it have to be that way with us? We used to be..." Naruto doesn't finish, unable to form the words. He's thinking of when they were genin, when Team Seven was unstoppable and forever. When he and Sasuke were friends or rivals or something in between. When they used to make sense.

"It can't go back to that," Sasuke says quietly. His head is tipped down, hair spilling forward over his pale forehead. For a moment, Naruto remembers what Sasuke looked like wearing a forehead protector. The memory makes his throat tight and then slips away, leaving him with the Sasuke of his present. The one threatening to slip away, out of his grasp again if he doesn't do something and _damn_, he wishes he knew what it was.

"Why not?" Naruto asks unreasonably. "It was better then."

"Things are different now," Sasuke answers. "We're different."

"Seems the same to me," Naruto says, his voice a little wet. "You're still a bastard."

"And you're still an idiot," Sasuke returns evenly. He watches Naruto for a few moments, his eyes shadowed. "Is that all?"

"No," Naruto scowls. "You haven't answered properly."

A ghost of a smirk appears on Sasuke's lips, the kind that catches and holds Naruto's eyes. "You didn't ask questions properly."

"It's kinda hard to know what to ask," Naruto grumbles, looking at the floor. He hears movement and glances up startled, but Sasuke has only taken a step away from the wall. "Don't go," Naruto blurts out, before he can think. Sasuke looks at him sharply, about to argue. "Just for a little while. I just-" Naruto takes a deep breath, then lets it out, struggling to get the words. "I like seeing you." _I like being near you. I like _you.

Sasuke is quiet, and Naruto thinks that maybe he will just leave anyway, but then he speaks. "I'm not returning to Konoha."

"I know," Naruto replies. He squares his jaw. "I'm not going to stop trying to bring you back."

"I know," Sasuke answers.

There is a silence. Sasuke turns his head to look out of the window at the village he was once a part of, and Naruto watches him, wondering if the longing ache that he feels towards Sasuke will ever leave.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

Naruto grins awkwardly. "I don't know."

Sasuke sighs, the corner of his mouth curling. "Dead-last."

Naruto thinks that in the soft darkness of his apartment, they've reached an agreement, however temporary.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** This story is sixty percent my beta, ten percent me, and thirty percent anything I have ever read. I take no credit.

**AN: **I thought it might be nice to post a bit of my old stuff. Hope someone enjoyed reading this. A bit angsty for me, but oh well.


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